What is La Michoacana?

What does a paletería sell?

A paletería is a shop built around paletas, Mexican ice pops. Paleta means “little paddle,” and a paletería usually has dozens of flavors, from strawberry, lime and mango to tamarind, horchata and mamey, often with chile or chamoy in the mix. ³

Most also scoop ice cream and sell drinks and snacks. Here’s what you’ll usually find:

Paletas de agua and de leche

Paletas come in two basic kinds: water-based (de agua), usually made with fruit, and milk-based (de leche). Think lime or mango con chile on one side, coconut or arroz con leche on the other. ³

Nieves

Nieve means “snow,” and it’s what many Mexican shops call their scooped ice cream, cream-based or fruit-based. Sundaes, banana splits and milkshakes usually start here.

Aguas frescas

Cold drinks made from fruit, flowers, seeds or grains, often served from big glass jars: horchata (rice and cinnamon), jamaica (hibiscus), sandía (watermelon), cucumber-lime.

Mangonadas and other specialties

A mangonada layers mango, as sorbet or fresh fruit, with chamoy and chile-lime seasoning like Tajín, usually with a tamarind straw. Raspados (shaved ice) and fresas con crema (strawberries and cream) are other classics.

Antojitos

Salty, spicy snacks to balance the sweets: esquites (corn in a cup), elotes, Tostilocos and chips loaded with toppings.

Where did La Michoacana start?

The accounts we found all point to the same place: Tocumbo, a town in the state of Michoacán, Mexico. They don’t agree on who started it or when. ^{1 2 3}

A 2009 article in Knowledge at Wharton gives two versions. In one, Agustín Andrade and Ignacio Alcázar, both from Tocumbo, moved to Mexico City in 1932 (the article also gives 1942), worked at a paletería there, opened their own shop, and later took the business model back to Michoacán. In the other, an ice cream maker from Tocumbo worked in the United States in the 1960s, then went home and used his savings to start an ice cream and paleta business. ²

Wikipedia lists Ignacio Alcázar, Agustín Andrade and Francisco Malfavón as founders and dates the start in Tocumbo to 1930. Its article on ice pops tells it a third way: Alcázar came back to Tocumbo after a trip to the United States in the early 1940s with the idea of making paletas from fresh fruit, then opened a shop in Mexico City with family members. ^{1 3}

We can’t tell you which version is right. What the stories share is the town, and the way the business spread: through families and friends from the region. ^{2 3}

Is La Michoacana a franchise?

Not in the usual sense. According to Knowledge at Wharton, families from the region moved to other parts of Mexico and took the business with them, and recipes, shop setup and paleta-making were shared mostly through family connections. Nobody trademarked the name or the concept when it first appeared, so no single person could claim it. ²

Wharton describes the shops as an “informal chain” and calls La Michoacana “an orphaned brand owned by none, but loved by all.” Wikipedia says the shops are not run as franchises but as small, independent businesses that choose to use the name, and estimates 8,000 to 15,000 of them in Mexico. Paleterías with the name are also found across the United States and in Central and South America. ^{1 2}

Because the shops are independent, quality, prices and menus can vary a lot from one to the next. Many variants of the name have also been registered in Mexico, and in 2009 Wharton counted at least 18 U.S. trademark applications for variants of the name and logo. ^{1 2}